It’s been quite a year. During the past 12 months, our membership has – in a word – performed. Members have got involved, contributed time, effort and expertise and generally made some noise. This encapsulates everything that membership and our profession is about; an alliance of people who want to work together to tip the status quo and improve what needs improving. It’s genuinely inspiring, and I mean that literally.
We take inspiration from the work you do and what you say you need. That’s why in 2017 we’ve taken your direction to power up our networks, hold more webinars, provide more guidance, create exciting events so you have options about the kind of things that make it into your diary, and deliver a brand new magazine, TRANSFORM – perhaps you’ve heard of it? We’ve also ramped up our policy, advocacy and engagement work with two new additions to our policy team – Marc Jourdan and Spencer Clubb. That extra capacity resulted in our attendance and influence at COP23, which is no small achievement.
All of this happened because you took the time to tell us what is important and what is valuable, and I’d like to thank you for that. We’ll continue to listen to what you tell us and act on your recommendations – we’re already looking at the results of the Member Satisfaction Survey to guide 2018’s activity.
Later this month – also because you asked us to – we’re bringing back a highly valued resource after several calls from members. What longer-standing members will remember as The Practitioner will return as the first in the new Sustainability in Practice series. Change Management for Sustainable Development updates on our 2008 The Practitioner, which was recently reviewed on Twitter by one member as a “lifesaver resource”. It will provide renewed perspective, inspiration and practical guidance in the context of transforming the world to sustainability and the action you can take at work to contribute.
As we bring 2017 to a close, I’d like to wish you all the very best for the new year, and here’s to making an impact in 2018.